KIRKUS REVIEW

A debut alternative history novel
tracks a family through the century following the South’s victory in the Civil
War.

New Orleans, 1909. Forty-four years
after the South won the Civil War, Tulane student Eric Kaufmann, son of a
German immigrant, proposes to the half-Cherokee Stephanie Weaver, forming a
future-minded couple for a new Southern century. The issues of the day are the
same that affect the Confederate States of America’s former enemy (and current
ally) to the north: economic development, women’s suffrage, an entangling war
in Europe, and the demands of modernization. Their son, Henry, becomes a radio
pioneer and founds his own political party to address the creep of
industrialization, a common currency with the United States, and the
vulnerabilities of the still-extant Hapsburg-helmed Mexican Empire. A third
generation of Kaufmanns is born and raised in New Orleans, and with that group the
family becomes ever more cosmopolitan, politically engaged, and influential to
the culture of the CSA. Three historical appendices detail the ways in which
the Confederacy won the war and made peace with the Union as well as how it
involved itself in Mexico on behalf of its ally France and thereby propped up
the Mexican Empire. Gross’ narrative voice successfully evokes early-20th-century
manners. Everything is stated politely, even dramatic incidents: “Stephanie
gave a short scream. She had an unusual fear of crustaceans.” The author dodges
the issue of slavery, mentioning in the Introduction that the Confederacy’s
raison d’être was abolished in the CSA within a generation of the war’s end: “There
was very little conflict about it, and very little disruption. Employment
replaced slavery. The law of supply and demand generally determined wages.” (He
goes out of his way to mention that the last pro-slavery holdout in the CSA was
the Cherokee Nation, oddly.) This tactic clears the way for Gross to explore
the issues of the 20th century through a Southern lens. But the novel never
feels like more than an intellectual exercise. Told mostly as exposition and
overly concerned with the religions and marriages of the various Kaufmann
offspring, the book will likely appeal to only the biggest alt history fans.

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